FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Roller Coaster Walk-Off Wins Series

July 24, 2016 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - If any of the Stone Crabs choose to visit one of Florida's many theme parks on Monday's off day, they probably won't find a roller coaster more thrilling than the one they just rode on Sunday at Charlotte Sports Park.

Jake Cronenworth lined a base hit to left to score Thomas Milone in the bottom of the tenth, ending an up-and-down, back-and-forth slugfest between the Stone Crabs and the Brevard County Manatees with a 7-6 final in favor of Charlotte.

The Stone Crabs began the game with the early lead, as Grant Kay hit a sac fly to score Cronenworth in the first inning. Brevard County retaliated in the top of the fourth when they loaded the bases with no outs and scored a run on a double play, and then Charlotte re-took the lead in the fifth with an Andrew Velazquez RBI single up the middle.

Things started going really wild in the sixth. Steve Ascher got the first two outs of the inning with no problem, but Dustin DeMuth and Clint Coulter knocked back-to-back singles to put the tying and go-ahead runs on. Elvis Rubio doubled to the left field corner, scoring both men and putting the Manatees in front for the first time. Ascher stayed in to allow another double, this one from George Iskenderian, scoring Rubio and making it 4-2. Brian Miller relieved Ascher and allowed Iskenderian to score on a hit by Blake Allemand, putting Brevard ahead 5-2 at the end of the inning.

Charlotte clawed its way back against the Brevard County bullpen. Former first round pick Kodi Medeiros was wild through his relief outing, giving up two runs in the seventh on just one hit and two walks. In the eighth, Medeiros gave up a leadoff single to Kay, then bounced out Alec Sole before giving way to Preston Gainey.

Gainey got the second out, but then allowed a base hit to Jace Conrad, scoring Kay and tying the game. Gainey then proceeded to have a complete meltdown, throwing 14 straight balls and walking three Stone Crabs, the last of which scored Conrad to put Charlotte ahead 6-5.

The action wasn't done yet, though. Mike Franco came on for the save and promptly loaded the bases with no outs, with eight straight balls of his own leading to back-to-back walks. Franco got a shallow fly out from Rubio that held the runners, then a double play groundball that could have ended the game. But Cristian Toribio's throw to second was wide, preventing Velazquez from making a throw to first in time.

The game went to extras tied 6-6, as the Stone Crabs loaded the bases but failed to score against Clint Terry in the ninth. After Jose Alvarado (2-1) struck out three in the top of the tenth, Thomas Milone came up to lead off the bottom of the frame.

Terry (0-2) immediately served up a triple to Milone, who hammered the pitch into the right field corner. With the winning run 90 feet away and no outs, Cronenworth delivered his second game-winning hit in five days.

The Stone Crabs, winners of four of their last five, head on the road at 16-13 in the second half, two games behind Jupiter for first place in the FSL South. The Stone Crabs and Hammerheads play a three game series starting on Tuesday night at Roger Dean Stadium. This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.

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Florida State League Stories from July 24, 2016


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